Freight-car.



PATENTED OCT. 25, 1904.

No. 773,126.v

S. J. COTTMAN. FREIGHT GAR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0 MODEL.

mar/ran 507211162 682 2772022 ATTORNEY.

WIN/E8858 PATENTED OCT. 25; 1904.

s. J. GOTTMAN.

FREIGHT GAR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES I TTORNEY.

UNITED STATES Patented. October 25, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FREIGHT-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No.77 3,126, dated October25, 1904.

' Application filed June 19,1903. $eria11io.162,242. (No model.)

I T0 at whmn it may concern: 'Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. OorrMAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia,State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Freight-Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription,

tated; and it has for its object to provide a novel construction ofcarin combination with means whereby the same may be readily orexpedltlously loaded or unloaded, as occasion may require.

In the character of freight-cars now commonly employed and which receiveor deliver different consignments of goods at different points along theroute traversed by the car'it is necessary to move the consignment ofgoods lengthwise of the car, according to its location therein, toapproach the door-opening, and it is likewise necessary in such old formof construction to not only expose the particular consignment of goodsthat is to be loaded or unloaded, but the other consignments in the samecar are more or less exposed and disturbed during the operation ofloading and unloading any one particular consignment. The invention tobe described is especially designed to avoid these objectionablefeatures and to provide a construction wherein only the consignment ofgoods to be loaded or unloaded need be exposed, while the otherconsignments in the car remain undisturbed and protected by thedoor-coverings.

In the drawings, Figure l is a transverse vertical section of afreight-car embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thecar, showing one of the doors in the open position; and Fig. 3 is asectional plan on the line 00 w of Fig. 1, showing the disposition ofthe sliding doors throughout the length of the car and the truckstherein.

The freight-car in general construction comprises the body portion 1,trucks 2, and the usual carrying-wheels 3, and all such parts are andmay be of the usual construction. Each of the entire side walls of thecar is composed of a series of sliding doors 8, which are provided withrollers 9, adapted to run upon tracks 10, supported by bracketsdependingfromthe roof of the car, and the bottoms of these doors arefitted to suitable guidegrooves 11, which extend the entire length ofthe floor of the car. It will be noted that each of the doors is of alength less than half the length of the car, whereby any particularsection of the interior of the car can be opened by sliding its door 8lengthwise, leaving the other portions or sections of the carundisturbed. The doors 8 overlap each other, as shown in Fig. 3, so thatthey may be adjusted to provide an opening at any desired point bysliding one door back of and in front of the other, as will be evidentfrom said Fig. 3.

" Arrangedtransversely within the car is a series of trucks 4, each ofwhich comprises a low flat top 5, carrying-wheels 6, arrangedthereunder, and. hand-bars 7, located at the respective ends, wherebythe trucks may be readily moved about. In the present embodiment of myinvention I have shown the sliding bars 8 of such length that eachincloses with the section covered by the door two of said trucks, fromwhich it will be evident that by sliding any one of the doors 8lengthwise of the car the trucks usually inclosed thereby may be movedout of or into the particular section of the car, and this withoutdisturbing or exposing any of the other trucks in the car.

The various stations along the route traversed by the car are providedwith platforms 12, which are raised to the same level as the floor ofthe car, so that as the latter is brought in close proximity to theplatforms the trucks 4: may be readily transferred from one to theother. Each station is likewise provided with suitable gang-planks 13,which are adapted to cover the slight opening between the car and theplatforms, and thereby facilitate the passage of the trucks to and fromthe car.

By the construction thus described it will be seen that when a car isrequired to deliver diiferent consignments of goods at differentstations along its route or to receive different consignments fromdifferent stations the loading or unloading may be readily accomplishedwith very little loss of time, as each separate consignment may becontained on one or two of the trucks, whereby it may be readilyintroduced to the ear or removed therefrom, as may be required. Not onlyis this ready loading and unloading accomplished without loss or time,but by making the entire sides of the cars of sliding doors each ofwhich is of a length less than one-half of the length of the eardifferent consignments of goods contained on one or more of the trucksmay be moved into or removed from the car without disturbing or exposingother consignments of goods that may be contained in the car. Forinstance, if the trucks in the center of the car are moved into or outof the ear the central doors may be slid to one side without moving theend doors or exposing the goods contained in the ends of the car.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A freight-car comprising the body portion having the fixed inclosingend walls, the entire side walls of the car being formed of a series ofsliding overlapping doors each of which is of less width than one-halfthe length of the car, parallel tracks disposed above the doors andmeans for suspending the series of doors from said tracks.

2. A freight-car comprising the body portion having the fixed inclosingend Walls, the entire side walls of the car being formed of a series ofsliding overlapping doors, each of which is of less width than one-halfthe length of the car, parallel tracks disposed above the doors andmeans for suspending the series of doors from said tracks, the bodyportion of the car being formed with guide-groovcs in which the loweredges of the doors lit.

3. In afreight-car comprising the body portion having the fixedinclosing end walls, the entire side walls of the car being formed of aseries of four sets of slidable overlapping doors, the doors of theouter sets overlapping the doors of the inner sets, each door being ofless width than one-half the length of the car, a separate trackdisposed above each set ol doors and means for suspending the series ofdoors from said tracks.

4. In a freight-ear,comprising the body portion having the fixedinclosing end walls, the entire side walls of the car being formed of aseries of four sets of slidable overlapping doors, the doors of theouter sets overlapping those of the inner sets, each door being of lesswidth than one-half the length 01 the car, a separate track disposedabove each set oi doors, means for suspending the doors from saidtracks, the body portion of the car being formed with separatelongitudinal guidegrooves for each set of doors in which the lower edgesof said doors fit.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto atfixed my signature this 6th dayof May, A. l). 1903.

SAMUEL J. COTTMAN.

Witnesses:

J. WARREN CoULs'roN, A. FLORENCE YERGER.

